March 11, 2014

olympus has fallen (2013, R) review

I’ve always enjoyed a good bad-guys-try-n-smite-America kind of
movie, and recently I threw a little Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart and Gerard
Butler (the latter two actors I’m not entirely fond of) into the
mix, and watched Olympus Has Fallen.

Butler
stars as Mike Banning, an ex-Special Ops agent and former member of the
president’s bodyguard who is removed from active duty (but
given a desk job in the White House) after a tragic accident causing the death
of the First Lady, Margaret (Ashley Judd).
Not long afterward, a group of Korean terrorists takes control of the
White House and holds the president hostage while the entire nation watches in
fear… and while Banning, trapped in the White
House as it is taken under siege, is left to fight the unwelcome
invaders. Most definitely an action
flick.

What I Liked

Olympus Has Fallen is most definitely a tale of heroism on many counts. Banning, for one, refuses to throw in the
towel before he carries out almost singlehandedly the (albeit bloody) defeat of
Kang, the leader of the Korean terrorist group, and in the meantime rescuing
President Asher’s young son, Conner.
Equally courageous is many of the President’s staff, taken hostage with
him in his command bunker. The Koreans
only ask three things of their prisoners:
1. That America call back her troops from the Korean DMZ (demilitarized zone between North and South
Korea). 2. That they pull the 7th Fleet from
Korean waters immediately. 3. That the President’s staff give the Korean
computer hacker the codes for the Cerberus program, essentially the nuclear self-destruct button for America. Both
the Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Secretary of Defense Ruth
McMillan vow to take the codes with them to their death, and despite brutal
intimidation, hold true to that promise, until the President commands them to
give it up in order to spare their lives.

Asher and Conner, are heartbroken by
the death of Margaret, and understandably so. But there is a quieter version of heroism here, as Asher does his best to put his fatherly duties before his presidential ones. Banning is depressed, stuck in a tedious desk
job, looking for a chance to redeem himself.
Yes, he did the right thing on the bridge that night Margaret died by
taking care of the President first and foremost, but he is still under the
scrutiny of almost all his former coworkers.
He fights with ferocious resolve, however, for Conner and Asher, with
whom he is still close friends and shares a special bond, and ends up saving
them both.

What I Didn't So Much

There were lots and lots of guns, and
quite a lot of blood, as can be expected in a rated R film. From the moment the assault on the White
House (code named Olympus) begins,
this movie is full of gun fights, hand to hand combat, grenades, RPGs, and the
like. Planes crash, tourists are killed
by debris, and Kang kills a handful of innocent people on live television wired
to the Situation Room, where a few White House survivors aid Banning and try to
stay survivors. Throats are slit, necks
are broken, Banning kills two people in cold blood after interrogation, and often
times there is gore to compliment the deaths.
And, of course, we all get what we were expecting - the death of sarcastic, brutal, and overconfident Kang. There were just
as many curses as could be expected in such a “war” film (not to say they’re
excused, mind you), and the language was somewhat understandable, but still unenjoyable on my part.

Final Thoughts

One upside was that this movie was
joyfully without inappropriate sexual scenes or innuendos, and the only
instance of drug use was the occasional cigarette. No alcohol.
Probably because all the focus went into making it as gory as possible,
but still. Banning has a strained
relationship with his wife, and we are led to believe that also is a result of
his post-Margaret-accident despondency.

Poor North Korea… Now I’m not saying there’s no threat there,
and I’m not going to get into the politics of it all, because I hate
politics. As in, loathe entirely. Insert mental image of the Grinch here. But doesn’t it seem as if modern filmmakers
like to make them the bad guys? Red Dawn, Die Hard (and the rest of them), Argo, Die Another Day,
anyone?

Honestly, despite the obvious good
messages in this movie, I had little love for Olympus Has Fallen, and would not recommend it, even to the most “mature
of audiences.” Heroism and courageousness
does not need to be taught in such a violent manner. Now, I don’t mind death or blood in movies (For Greater Glory, Braveheart, hello. Favorites.),
but there comes a time when too much of that mixed with an imitative plot do not a good film make.

I would bequeath this movie .5 out of 3 for violence,
language, and altogether unoriginality.

2 comments
:

Hmmm... this looks interesting... I don't like violence-y movies, as a general rule, and this looks like no exception. "For Greater Glory" - have you seen that? - is a different story. :) THAT movie is just too heroic. (No such thing, btw.) But thank you for reviewing this, dear Iris. God bless! (Wait. "Violent" was the word I was looking for, not "violence-y". xD)